Monday, May 10, 2010

It's nostalgia time this week for some of you--while others go, huh, what's nostalgia? (Try a dictionary, kids.) The Monday Poll this week wants you to go back, back, back to your earliest recollections of paintball. (Mr. Peabody, his boy, Sherman, and the Wayback Machine are available for the oldest of the Old Skool amongst y'all.) I'm curious as to how you first heard about paintball and/or what prompted your first paintball experience? Did you see a copy of APG at the 7-11? Were you invited to a birthday party? Did you drive-by a local field?I'ma give you seven (mostly self-explanatory) choices and if you pick 'Other'--I know I'm wasting my breath--please post up in comments what that 'Other' was. Otherwise your choices are: magazine, TV, other media (like a tourney DVD, a paintball website, etc.), Friend, Party Invitation & Outing (church group, corporate event, etc.) (but nothing to do with sexual orientation unless it was an outing outing.)Last week was another excellent turnout. It seems the VFTD Rock The Vote campaign is working. Remember, only you can prevent forest fires so get out there and vote!

Monday Poll in ReviewFor those of you with Attention Deficit Disorder a reminder: Last week's poll wanted to know which firing mode you preferred for tournament play given the fact all guns would be set-up the same. I provided only 4 options; uncapped semi-auto (21%), capped semi-auto (22%), MS style capped ramping (14%) and PSP mode capped ramping (41%). My interest was in gauging how much difference it makes when teams and players decide to plunk down their cash and play an event. I was curious mostly because every recent incarnation of the NPPL has made "semi-auto" a point of pride and there are those who believe it helps sell the league. And because in the previous week's Monday Poll the Gun Rules option didn't get a single vote as the most important factor when deciding what event(s) to play.Even if Gun Rules won't make or break a decision to compete the numbers for the semi-auto crowd are stronger than I expected with 43% preferring some version of semi-auto compared to PSP's 41%. That suggests one of two things; either lots of old diehards skewed the results or even some percentage of regular PSP players would like semi-auto in some form. (Y'all realize in the context of electronic markers "semi-auto" is nearly meaningless, right?) So gun rules continue to polarize opinions but they don't rise to the level of pushing players from one format to another. At least not in enough numbers for the powers that be to reconsider--in either direction.

24 comments:

I'll never forget how I first saw paintball... on a program called "PM Magazine," an evening newscast on local broadcast television. It showed adults in full camo and facepaint running around in the woods, and it talked about how paintball catered to wealthy types, like doctors and lawyers. (this is back in the early or mid 80s).

I was but a sniveling whelp at the time, but it stuck with me and I was hooked.

The faster the gun shoots, the better your chances of winning, and there is no way to penalize players whose guns are not shooting semi-auto and only players whose guns are not shooting semi-auto. So the player is left with two choices: Set their gun so it's shooting more than one ball per pull, or play at a significant disadvantage. Most choose the former.

s-dawgBecause there is an agency between you pulling the trigger and your gun firing. The hardware is the board but what matters is the software. Many factory boards add shots purposefully--or smooth out the ROF--though I don't know any who admit and most, if pressed, will deny it. When you pull the trigger you aren't shooting your gun--you are activating the programming sequence that fires your gun. And given the propensity of modern board makers to offer modes and a wide range of adjustable settings the result is mostly variations on added shots which also include signal and mechanical bounce. What seems to confuse some folks is the terminology. All you need to consider however is that any method of adding shots relative to the number of trigger pulls is a ramping action. And of course since your trigger pull doesn't directly correspond to a shot being fired even the notion of high speed cameras can only verify post facto that X number of shots matches up with X number of trigger pulls assuming you can get at least two people to agree on the definition of a trigger pull.

First Paintball experience was at a summer camp in 1991 - everyone had splat masters (with a few lucky campers having the Splatmaster Rapide). Played for 5-6 hours one afternoon with 2-10 round tubes. I was 12- Don't remember being so scared yet so thrilled at the same time. Broke open the piggy bank and bought an SL-68, which I thought was the most awesome gun ever... until I saw a Lvl 7 automag. But that's a different story.

a highschool friend of mine's family owned a local shop (it never did well, but they owned it) and he brought a magazine into school one day. two school days later i put down the magazine and tried to catch up on the school work i missed while reading. hasnt changed lol.

Other - I needed work as a kid, so I could buy drugs, booze etc. My job was to pick up trash and empty tubes from the local paintball field. I would then wash the tubes, dry them, and re-insert 6 balls in each. I was paid 20 quid per day. I progressed to 'the Armory' shortly after that, and then to reffing, once I was old enough. I was working in paintball for 5 years before I ever played a game.

Other....springbreak of '83 I was home from college and the family went to the local mall. While in the bookstore my mom came up to me with a book about "The Survival Game". I bought it and read the whole thing the 1st night. In the back was an index of individuals that ran games. I got some buddies together later that summer and call the closest guy. We met up with him the next weekend and have been playing ever since.

A friend organized an annual paintball game between two branches of his company. I was invited and turned him down the first two years (I was intimidated by the unknown). Third year I finally agreed and was bot ecstatic at the end of the day and pissed off that I had turned down the first two opportunities to play. Started organizing our own groups together with my brother-in-law and eventually opened our field. Been rolling in the dough ever since (OK, that part's a lie).

I was hanging out at the White House, and this guy named Alex Fraige came rolling up in a Ferrari and said, "You look awesome, do you want to play for Dynasty?" I told him that he looked like a pretty cool cat, so I said yes, and the rest is history.

Playing with friends and slingshots. I think I had a grand total of 5, maybe 10 paintballs, and only "shot" at one person. I distinctly remember not wanting to shoot at someone unless I head a clear perfect target because I only had 10 shots.

Like the original first game of paintball, our game was over without interaction between the participants. I think our sling-shot game/objective was a capture the flag game...don't remember though.

Needed some pocket money so started working in the kitchen of the local Skirmish field. I was 14. It was £10 for a tube of 10 and everyone was shooting Splatmasters. Then a break until I needed cash to help me run my first car so started working as a Marshall at another field. Met some good friends there but always said I wouldn't play due to the cost at the time. Then got asked to play for the site team at a PGI 5-man event back. I lasted about 10 seconds of the first game but was hooked from that point forward.

It's interesting (interesting to me anyway) that there are so many people on here who played their first game of paintball with just a handfull of paintballs. This place seems a bit like the internet's old folk social club.

By the time I started playing, players were already using 200 - 300 paintballs per day. I only heard the stories of how at one time players could only afford to shoot 20 or 30 paintballs per day. I wonder if a group of people who have never played paintball before, would still have fun playing with just 20 or 30 paintballs each? Or have humans evolved so much in the last 25 years or so, that it just couldn't happen?

Sorry to get off topic but the nostagia from the seniors telling stories just go me thinking.

"By the time I started playing, players were already using 200 - 300 paintballs per day. I only heard the stories of how at one time players could only afford to shoot 20 or 30 paintballs per day. I wonder if a group of people who have never played paintball before, would still have fun playing with just 20 or 30 paintballs each?"

Ah, you apparently weren't aware that the size of the fields were huge back then. I played on about 15 to 20 acres against anywhere from 3 to 10 other guys. You could imagine we didn't run into one another all that much.

Most of the time we were stalking. Yes that's right, STALKING! There, I said it. We would stalk our opponents. In the snow, with no shoes. Up hill, both ways. One paintball cost a quarter, not no damn nickle. And we were grateful, dammit!Not all of us would stalk. Some wussies would sit in ambush the whole time, but this only made them have to go pee before too long.

Yes, Mark I could see where the size of fields and the number of paintballs used would have a direct relationship (and yes, I did know the fields were huge by today's standards). Still though, once a foe is encountered, most players today would be hard pressed to be patient enough to only use a few paintballs (can't waste all 20 or 30 paintballs trying to get one guy out - you might stumble upon another foe or two before the day is over). Ahhh, the Glory Days.

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ABOUT

About Baca:
Baca Loco is the forum name I first used at P8ntballer.com and kept when I starting writing for PGi magazine, the late, lamented Paintball Games International. At various times I did gun reviews, event reports, the occasional feature, How-To’s & a monthly column entitled, View from the Deadbox. At one time or another I’ve done most everything you can do in paintball other than own a field or run a tourney series. For the last several years I have coached a number of pro teams and generally made a nuisance of myself whenever possible.

About VIEW FROM THE DEADOX:
One purpose of this blog is to encourage a dialogue about competitive paintball and permitting commenter anonymity is intended to encourage the participation of those who actually know what they are talking about. The rest of you are also welcome, even encouraged, to comment as well. (I don't really need any encouragement.)
The other purpose of this blog is to provide a focus for my attention deficit disorder and hold boredom at bay.

About my views:
Brilliant, visionary and almost always correct. Get used to it. Oh, and I'm humble too. Feel free to disagree as long as you are prepared to be wrong.

FAQ

How is paintball like golf? Golf is played outdoors on nice, well kept grass or, if something goes horribly wrong, off in the woods. Same with paintball.

How is a paintball made? What am I, Wikipedia?

Who are your sponsors? Who hasn't been one of my sponsors? I won't be trying to promote current sponsors on this blog nor will I take shots at non-sponsors. I don't give gun, goggle or gear advice so it really doesn't matter.

What's your view on cheating? It's wrong and has no place in the game. That's why I don't play scenario or Big Games.

What's your favorite marker? The free one.

Where did that awesome photo come from in the blog header? It is the work of photographer extraordinaire, Brandon Showers or the vixen with a Nikon (or maybe a Canon) Meagan Foster.

What's your favorite team? Grow up.

Who started the Rec vs. Tourney war? Some will say that's just the way it's always been. Others claim it's natural for the sides to be at odds. I say, aren't we all brothers under the goggles? I'm not sure but ask yourself who benefits? Follow the money. Could it be a covert plot of the Military Simulation Industrial Complex? As long as the war rages on there will be a demand for more paint, more markers and Big Paintball will continue to count its profits instead of the cost. Give peace a chance. That's all that I'm saying.

How do I get sponsored? You don't.

Will you send me any free stuff if I tell you what a big fan I am? No.

Is agg dead yet? Yes, it's time to move on to some new uber hip trendiness that everyone can follow to demonstrate their individuality.

Is it true the inside of Ollie Lang's gearbag smells like roses? No, strawberries and cream.